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The weather needs to cooperate
By Dennis Terry
Sunday was a long-wet-cold and miserable day at the track. Race delays are the worst nightmare for those of us who do pit stops on Sunday and also hold an office job Monday-Friday.
All of the over-the-wall guys on the Bass-Pro-Shops pit crew are “Sunday Only” crewmen like myself (except for our rear tire changer) and when it became apparent that we would be back to Atlanta on Monday we were all scrambling to call work and make arrangements for our Monday absence.
Shortly after Sunday’s race was called, the DEI teams headed back to the airport for our 45 minute flight home. It is somewhat of a hassle to fly all the way back home to Charlotte, but a good night sleep at home in my bed is always worth it.
DEI really works hard to help us spend as much time with our families as possible. I really appreciate that and I’m glad I’m not spending tonight in an Atlanta hotel listening to fans party all night.
Unfortunately, Monday is not looking very sunny and there is a good chance that the Golden Correl 500 is going to be a Tuesday race. That will be one more of my precious few vacation days down the Atlanta drain.
DEI does have a good contingency plan in place for Monday. We have 4 crewmen from each team staying in Atlanta tonight and those guys will be at the track first thing in the morning to prep the car. The rest of us will be waiting at the airport for an 8:00 am departure if the weather is accommodating, but until we get the “all clear” (nice pun huh?) we are planning on playing scrabble and watching the weather channel in the DEI hangar.
One last thing, please keep my buddy Patrick Bell in your thoughts and prayers. He is a private pilot who suffered a heart attack at the track airport this morning shortly after he landed.
March 20, 2006 in Race Day | Permalink
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Comments
Dennis,
Hopefully Mr. Bell will recover quickly from his condition.
You, on the other hand, need to "suck it up," stop whining, and be ready to race. I am J/K. But, Mother nature is a woman, and we know how they can be. It just adds to the event. Besides, Monday at the office Vs Monday at the track, is a sure vote, from me, in favor of the track.
Posted by: Keith | Mar 20, 2006 10:08:28 AM
Hope your friend is okay and recovers soon! Good luck today!
Posted by: Erica | Mar 20, 2006 12:48:23 PM
Yep, that weather doesn't help any of us with the races, I can only imagine how yall feel..... I was working, plus tryin to run back and forth to the lounge to see who was doing what? Martin and Ryan seem to be having a rotten start, but it is JUST a START, they'll both pick up here before it's too late and start rolling in the right direction......
I'm so sorry to hear about your friend, we'll be keeping him in our prayers, please keep us posted..... And I hope Robbie Gordons gasman is ok.... they said he was, but that looked bad.....
Posted by: Darlene | Mar 20, 2006 5:20:18 PM
Why doesn't stock cars run the races in even a little drizzle? You always see F1 run in heavy rains. Rain tires and a set of wipers and you are good to go. Am i missing something here. And the TV guys with all the yapping they do, they never explain this.
Posted by: jake | Mar 20, 2006 7:20:08 PM
I have a few questions DT or Trent,
When a race is put off till Monday does all the regular pit guys stay a extra night in the hotels? What if the hotels alreadyhave them rented out? And are the fans shit-out-of-luck if they can't make it back on monday? And since most of the pit guys get monday off, do they now have to work straight through the week?
Thanks....
Posted by: Jen S | Mar 20, 2006 9:17:24 PM
Jen,
I know at Texas, if you can't make it back on Monday, then you've just lost your money.
Not quite fair, but that's how it goes.... And the way it's been raining here the past two weeks, we may be in trouble for the Texas race.... Parts of the Dallas/Fort Worth area got 10 inches this weekend, closed roads and everything.... Only about 3 weeks til Texas.... And tickets cost too much not to see the race....
Posted by: Darlene | Mar 20, 2006 11:03:35 PM
Jen S,
When the race is moved to Monday each team has its own policy regarding hotels and transportation. Most of the time, everyone on the team stays over in hotels. Our travel coordinators will reserve extra rooms for Sunday night anytime the weather may become a factor.
For races close to home, like Atlanta, we (DEI) will just fly home like we did this weekend. Many teams, including Penske, just stayed in Atlanta Hotels.
For those shop guys who get Mondays off, they get to work seven days that week. It's hard to take a day off when you have another race to prepare for.
And Yes Darlene, I've never heard of a track refunding tickets to fans. Even when Sept 11th delayed the New Hampshire race for 2 months those fans had to hold on to their tickets until the rescheduled event.
Hope that helps.
DT
Posted by: DT | Mar 21, 2006 7:56:55 AM
I'd think you guys would know when you accept a position on a NASCAR pit crew that there are going to be times that the race gets rained out and you will have to make alternative arrangements for Monday.
Using one of your "precious" vacation days is just part of getting to do the cool job you do. Quit crying about it. Most of us would give all our "precious" vacation days for a chance to jump over the wall.
Posted by: RCSanders | Mar 21, 2006 11:32:36 AM
RC,
Most of these guys work 10-12 hours a day 6 days a week so the days off they do get are 'precious'. Many of the people that are over the wall guys are also the same guys building the cars during the week. They should get days off after what I saw on pit road yesterday.
Posted by: Mike | Mar 21, 2006 12:25:04 PM
Hope your friend recovers.
Glad I did not take day off to watch the race as my driver did not do so well!
Posted by: Sharon | Mar 21, 2006 12:26:00 PM
Most everyones days off are precious.... doesn't matter how great a job you have, people still want their days off... and I don't think Dennis was complaining about NOT having a day off.. If the race had gone green on Sunday.... Dennis would have been at WORK Monday... Not off..... I'm not sure, but I think by what he's said, he works Monday thru Friday... Saturday and Sunday ARE his days off, which he uses them as an Over-the-Wall crew member.... so I don't believe he was complaining about not being able to work, appears he works quite hard and long..... Just would rather use his vacation for time with his family....? Just my take....
Posted by: Darlene | Mar 21, 2006 7:39:18 PM
Our prayers are with your freind.
You must be one motivated and energetic guy to work all week and then work all weekend.I wish I had your stamina...but then again it dawned on me the other day that I am older than middle aged now.
Posted by: Clance McClannahan | Mar 22, 2006 8:48:47 AM
Jake- do you F1 guys ever listen? That's been covered at every rain delay for years. Your F1 cars have many times the downforce of Cup cars (last I heard, they had much more downforce than weight, and thus could theoretically run upside-down on an elevated track), 1320 lb cars versus 3500 lbs, and 4 times the tire.
Posted by: TSPF | Mar 24, 2006 12:24:08 PM
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